The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

Monday, November 05, 2012

Case of Menachem Mendel Levy

NOTE: There are several individuals by the name of Menachem Mendel Levy. The alleged sex offender resides in London England.

Mr.
Levy was arrested and charged with eight counts of sexual assault of a
young woman. Three of the of which occurred while she was a minor. The survivor was between the ages of 14 and 21 when the alleged sexual
offenses occurred.

Forty-year-old, Menachem Mendel Levy, is a father of five, pleaded not
guilty to sexually abusing a teenage girl from the age of 14 until she was 20 years old.Levy's next court date is scheduled for May, 2013.

Considering the political and rabbinate connectionMr. Levy has, there is concern about the fairness of the upcoming trial.

According to reports Mendy Mendel Levy had several businesses including OptimaConstructionCompany and Everlasting Edifice, LTD, which is an event planning agency.

Back in 2007, Mr. Levy designed the Hanukkah menorah which was placed in Trafalgar Square. This was the first time, a massive 9.5 metre menorah was erected which was
lit by London former Mayor, Ken Livingstone and Chabad House Hendon director
Rabbi Gershon Overlander.

The Awareness Center was also informed that he used to write a column for "the Jewish News", which is one of the UK Jewish newspapers. It's worth noting that the Jewish News has not published anything regarding the court case against Mendy Levy.

___________________________________________________________________________________Rape accuser: rabbis would not help me

By Simon Rocker and Anna Sheinman, JC - October 25, 2012http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/88061/rape-accuser-rabbis-would-not-help-meA trial opened this week to allegations of rape inside the strictly Orthodox Jewish community.

Mendy Levy - Alleged Sex Offender

Menachem Mendel Levy, 40, denies eight counts of rape or sexual assault of a young Orthodox woman, including three of indecent assault when she was a minor.

The woman suffered a “course of sexual abuse” between the ages of 14 and 21, “beginning when she was a child in the eyes of the law”, prosecutor David Markham told Wood Green Crown Court. After Mr Levy had first touched her sexually when she was 14, the abuse had escalated over years as he “forced himself on her for sexual intercourse”.

The woman — who cannot legally be identified — “did not complain during that period, because in essence she thought she was to blame,” Mr Markham said.

“This was a belief and conviction rooted in her upbringing in north London and the Orthodox Jewish community.”

Mr Levy had exploited her naivety and fears, he said, by telling the woman that she would be the one in trouble if she raised the alarm.

Mr Markham said that it would be suggested on Mr Levy’s behalf that, after the woman had turned 16, and following his marriage to someone else, “he had consensual sexual intercourse with her on a number of occasions. He will deny any sexual contact with her before she was 16, but will say that he and she had an affair after she turned 16.”

The woman, the barrister said, had resisted his sexual overtures on some occasions and on others had submitted “with a sense of powerlessness” but in neither situation had she consented.

It was only later when she was abroad and saw a TV programme about sexual abuse that she grasped the magnitude of what had happened to her, he said. When she returned home, in 2006, she told her parents and later spoke to rabbis in her community.

Two years ago, she sent a letter to Mr Levy, detailing the pain his actions had caused her. It said: “You smouldered and suffocated my soul… stole my education… and virginity. You now question what you can do to make it go away… It will never go away. I cannot buy the things you stole from me.”

The letter went on to suggest that he should apologise to her and reimburse her parents for the counselling and therapy she had undergone.

“If an apology had been forthcoming and resolution possible within the community, she would not have gone to the police,” Mr Markham said.

In a video interview with police played to the jury, the woman said she had felt she had been used “like a utensil” by Mr Levy and had hated what went on.

At one stage, she had taken to cutting herself with a razor — “the only way I could get rid of the pain building up inside me”.

Explaining why she taken time to go to police, she said that “in the religious Jewish world, you don’t call the police for anything unless someone is murdering someone or stealing”.

When she had consulted rabbis, “they basically told me there was nothing they could do; they didn’t know what to do. They all started coming up with their bull**** excuses.”

Repeatedly questioned by the defence barrister as to why she had not told someone, the woman described herself as having been “very naive” and said: “In hindsight if I had known how wrong what he was doing really was, I would have said something.”

During cross-examination, she was repeatedly accused of lying, of destroying evidence and of fabricating the story. To this the woman’s most frequent response was “No.”

The (London) Jewish Chronicle reports
that a haredi man, Menachem Mendel Levy, 40, is on trial in London on
eight counts of child sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault of a young
woman. Three of those charges are for indecent assault against the woman
when she was a minor.

The abuse allegedly started when the girl
was 14 and continued until she was 21. The abuse allegedly started with
touching and fondling and escalated until it involved rape.

The
victim “did not complain during that period, because in essence she
thought she was to blame. This was a belief and conviction rooted in her
upbringing in north London and the Orthodox Jewishcommunity,” the
prosecutor reportedly said. Levy exploited her naivety and fears, he
said, telling the woman that she would be the one in trouble if she told
anyone in the community or called police.

The prosecutor noted
that Levy’s defense would claim that after the girl turned 16, and
following Levy’s marriage to someone else, Levy “had consensual sexual
intercourse with her on a number of occasions. He will deny any sexual
contact with her before she was 16, but will say that he and she had an
affair after she turned 16.”

But, the prosecutor said, the truth is far different than that.

The
victim resisted his sexual overtures on some occasions. But on other
occasions she submitted “with a sense of powerlessness.” But she never
consented.

Mendy Levy's construction company created the menorah used in London,

It was only later, when she was overseas and saw a TV
program about sexual abuse, that she understood the magnitude of what
happened to her, the prosecutor reportedly said. When she came back home
to Britain in 2006, she told her parents. Some time after that she told
rabbis in her community.

Two years ago, the alleged victim sent a
letter to Levy that detailed the pain his actions had caused her. In
part, it reportedly reads,

“You smouldered and suffocated my
soul… stole my education… and virginity. You now question what you can
do to make it go away… It will never go away. I cannot buy the things
you stole from me.”

The letter went on to suggest that he should
apologize to her and reimburse her parents for the counseling and
therapy she had undergone.

“If an apology had been forthcoming
and resolution possible within the community, she would not have gone to
the police,” the prosecutor said.

During videotaped questioning
by police that was played to the jury, she said she had been used “like a
utensil” by Levy and hated what happened.

At one point during the abuse, the alleged victim started cutting herself with a razor.

“[It was] the only way I could get rid of the pain building up inside me,” she said.

When
asked why she had taken so long to call police, she replied that “in
the religious Jewish world, you don’t call the police for anything
unless someone is murdering someone or stealing.”

When she
consulted haredi rabbis, “they basically told me there was nothing they
could do; they didn’t know what to do. They all started coming up with
their bull**** excuses.”

When repeatedly questioned by Levy’s
attorney about why she had not told anyone about the abuse, the victim
described herself as having been “very naive” in those days and said
that “in hindsight, if I had known how wrong what he was doing really
was, I would have said something.”

During cross-examination, she
was repeatedly accused of lying, of destroying evidence and of
fabricating the story by Levy’s attorney. To Jewish Chronicle reports
that the woman’s most frequent response to those allegations was “No.”

Long-simmering scandal
threatens to divide those who want to involve secular authorities and
those who want to deal with abuse internally

London’s ultra-Orthodox establishment is
investigating one of its most senior rabbis following a barrage of
rumors that he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a woman, The
Times of Israel has learned.

The rabbi wields considerable influence in the city’s Haredi institutions.

Menorah designed by Mendel Levy / Optima Construction

Over the past few weeks, he has been accused
in blogs and on the street of a variety of sexual misdeeds with at least
one woman — for whom he was allegedly acting as a counselor — and
possibly with others. The allegations range from serious criminal
offenses to actions which, one rabbi said, may be halachically dubious,
but “in the non-rabbinical, non-Haredi world, wouldn’t raise eyebrows.”

The rabbi at the center of the rumors did not return a phone call.

Since mid-October, his London colleagues have
met twice to discuss the handling of the case, once in the Orthodox
suburb of Golders Green in North West London, and once in the
considerably more Haredi Stamford Hill.

Now a prominent London rabbinical authority
has appointed a small committee to investigate the claims. The committee
apparently includes a mental health professional and a legal
professional; at least one of them is Jewish.

Gabriel Schleider, a clerk at the North Square Chambers legal firm, refused to comment on reports that he was on the panel.

One local Haredi rabbi, who like all the
British interviewees for this article requested anonymity due to the
case’s sensitive nature, said he did not believe the rumors, which “seem
incompatible with [the rabbi's] personality.”

Because of the accused rabbi’s senior status
and popularity, if the most serious allegations were proven, “it would
send shock waves through the community. It would be on par with the
chief rabbi being accused of such a thing,” he added.

Another rabbi said the fallout “would be like a
mini Shabtai Tzvi,” a reference to the 17th century false messiah who,
before his eventual conversion to Islam, legitimized sexual excess as
part of religious ritual among his followers. The story is regarded as
one of the most disruptive incidents in early modern Jewish history.

Whatever the outcome in this particular case,
the severity of some of the allegations has sparked a discussion within
the British Haredi community about sexual abuse by members of the clergy
— problems that have received scant attention to date.

The discussion will likely intensify in the
coming months, as a television investigation into the community’s
approach to child sex abuse is currently in its final stages. The
program, which is being fronted by journalist Annamarie Cumiskey, has
been in the works for more than a year and a half, and The Times of
Israel has seen evidence that suggests it will be aired on a major
British network, Channel 4, as part of its “Dispatches” current-affairs
show.

The program will apparently allege that sexual
crimes are systematically covered up in the Haredi enclaves of London,
Manchester and Gateshead, and will feature testimony from both victims
still in the community and several who have left it.

Menachem Mendel Levy's Menorah

In contrast to New York, where high-profile
allegations of abuse in the Orthodox community have become a regular
occurrence, in London, they are still relatively rare and low-key. Cases
do sometimes come to court — just last week, 40-year-old Menachem
Mendel Levy appeared before a London judge to face charges of regularly
raping a young Orthodox woman — but the last major abuse scandal
occurred in 1991, when two Orthodox, male babysitters in Stamford Hill
were accused of molesting their charges. The victims’ family, which went
to the police, was chased by a mob and forced to leave the area. The
babysitters were later acquitted of most charges.

A number of British rabbis told The Times of
Israel that they had seen little evidence of significant incidents of
sexual abuse among London’s Haredim.

However, Ben Hirsch, the president of Survivors for Justice,
a New York-based advocacy group for survivors of sexual abuse in the
Orthodox community, called this naive. He says his organization
regularly fields calls and emails from the UK.

“We were quite surprised — it was notable,” he
says. “We were getting panicked phone calls from people in London,
Stamford Hill, Gateshead and Manchester. Many were so frightened, they
wouldn’t give us their names. Those that did were referred to people
that were able to deal with situations in the UK. Some were looking for
therapists; others just wanted to talk. They were panicked because they
were not prepared to go to the authorities, and didn’t know what else to
do. People were afraid. We even received calls from several therapists
who wanted help dealing with abuse in the Haredi communities in the UK. ”

There is no British equivalent organization to
Survivors for Justice, nor any communal organization that deals solely
with sexual abuse.

Hirsch says he would expect the rates of
sexual abuse in the UK’s ultra-Orthodox community to be similar to those
in Haredi communities elsewhere.

“The culture is very similar, and the culture is the source of the problem,” he says.

Referring to Hasidic and other very insular
Orthodox communities in particular, he says that in both the US and the
UK, “You’ve got a few community leaders in power, and members of the
community afraid to cross the road without permission, knowing that if
they call the police, they’re on the outs.”

If anything, he says, “based on everything we
know of the coverups in London and Gateshead, they are worse, more
egregious than the coverups in New York.”

He blames this on the UK communities’ more
formalized, top-down rabbinic structure, which gives rabbis even more
power than in the US.

In New York, secular authorities have
cultivated relations with the ultra-Orthodox community for help in
cracking down on sexual abusers, a process that has yet to take place in
the UK. In addition, even if offending rates are similar, the absolute
numbers of abusers in UK Haredi circles would be minute compared to
those in America, as there are fewer than 300,000 Jews of all streams in
the UK altogether, as compared to 250,000 Haredim in the New York area
alone.

Some rabbis believe that change is afoot. One rabbi says he hopes that the upcoming TV report will make a difference.

“I can’t say [the program's allegations] are
not true. We are unable to deal with these issues effectively. We’re
much better than we were in the past, but we’re not moving fast enough. A
lot of it is naivete — people really sometimes don’t believe it’s
happening, or they believe that an abuser can stop if you beat them up
or if you treat them. If a person shows remorse, they accept that as
genuine, and that they will never do it again.

“If the program is done responsibly, maybe it will be a catalyst. If not, it will be counterproductive.”

The same rabbi claimed that a group of
colleagues belonging to the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations was
trying to band together to become “the address” for families whose
members have experienced sexual abuse. The group would be the final
arbiter on whether the families could go to the police.

The purpose, he said, was to circumvent a
number of other rabbis who regularly obstruct efforts to report abuse to
the secular authorities.

“The group will have the whole support of the
rabbinate, and whatever they say, for good and for bad, will be the
verdict. No rabbi can start terrorizing families [not to go to the
police] — the rabbonim will be standing behind the families.”

Another Haredi rabbi said that the large number of cases in New York has not gone unnoticed in London.

When it came to the recent allegations against
the senior London rabbi, he said, “The rabbis don’t want a repeat of
New York, where [the rabbis] were accused of not dealing with these
issues. They want to be seen to be stamping it out.

“If any discoveries lead to an indictment,
they will be the first to expose, condemn and deal with it. The last
thing they want to do is try and hush it up.”

The latest scandal burst into the
public domain over Sukkot, when a London rabbi reportedly confronted his
colleague and demanded that he leave the city

There have also been claims of police involvement in the Haredi investigation of the London rabbi, but The Times of Israel was unable to verify this.

Regarding the current case, rumors surrounding
the rabbi’s behavior have been circulating for several months, but
other senior rabbis were unwilling to approach him, according to a
source familiar with the details of the case.

The allegations burst into the public domain
over Sukkot, when a local rabbi reportedly confronted his colleague and
demanded that he leave the city.

For Hirsch, this is “standard operating
procedure for frum communities. Running the perpetrator out of town is
what generally happens when complaints are brought to the rabbinic
leadership. Usually the person reporting will be cajoled or intimidated
into silence, and the case gets covered up. If the case gets too big,
too well-known, there are too many complaints and it cannot be
controlled, the attitude is, let’s just get rid of the problem. This
means sending the perpetrator to another Jewish community. In cases of
child abuse, the perpetrators are almost guaranteed to reoffend.

“Because of the lashon harah [gossip] and shidduch
[matchmaking] issues, there is a very strong push to keep it quiet,
protect the perpetrator’s family and children from negative impact. They
are completely blinded to the dangers this attitude poses to future
victims, and the deep injustice to past victims.”

If the rabbis want to bring about real change,
he says, they have just one option: involve the police in every case.
Rabbis who are not trained professionals cannot investigate allegations
of abuse, or even correctly diagnose abuse, nor can they be trusted to
fairly investigate their own colleagues or to put the needs of victims
above the reputation of the community — there is simply too much
conflict of interest.

“If the rabbinical leadership says, ‘We’re not
qualified to investigate; go to the authorities,’ that’s when change
begins,” he says. “Then there’s no stigma.”

The plan for a permanent group of rabbis to decide whether the police should be approached, he says, was “a classic coverup.

“It’s the fox guarding the hen-house. It needs
to be left to the professionals. If these rabbis really want to stop
obstructionist rabbis, they need to find the courage to issue a clear
and unambiguous statement that says, ‘Don’t go to rabbis to ask
permission. Always report child sexual abuse directly to the secular
authorities.’ They should put themselves in the firing line and openly
praise and support those victims and their families who report abuse to
the secular authorities. That would be heroic. Any other rabbinical
involvement leads directly to coverup.”

The same applies, he says, to an investigating panel that includes people with ties to the community.

“If the purpose of the panel is to determine
whether a rabbi should be defrocked or ejected from a member
organization for improper conduct, that’s appropriate. But if the panel
seeks to provide an alternative to a formal criminal investigation by
trained law enforcement officers, they are playing with fire.”

Chanukah at City Hallby: SJ reporter - Last updated: 2005-12-30London Mayor Ken Livingstone has pledged to make celebrating Chanukah an annual event at City Hall.

The announcement comes following the lighting of the menorah in a ceremony overseen by Chabad of Hendon.

Mayor Livingstone of London on left, Mendy Levy 2nd from right

"I am pleased to be able to host the lighting of the Menorah at City Hall. Chanukah is an important period in the Jewish calendar commemorating the Jewish struggle for religious freedom," said Mr Livingstone.

"In recognition of this, I intend this to be an annual event at City Hall. I would like to wish London’s Jewish communities a very happy Chanukah," he added.

Rabbi Gershon Overlander of Chabad said:

"It is very gratifying and highly appropriate that the capital of this great country which vigorously protects the religious freedom of all its citizens has chosen to erect a Menorah here in London City Hall."

Jewish deputy mayor Nicky Gavron added: "In lighting the Menorah at City Hall, we recognise the value of this freedom and we also acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable contribution that the Jewish community has made to London's culture, economy and history. I hope that the City Hall Menorah will become part of the London landscape every Chanukah for years to come.

Londoners
are invited to join members of the capital's Jewish community to
celebrate Chanukah on Tuesday 11 December, at a Menorah lighting
ceremony in central London. The 9.5 metre Menorah, an eight stemmed
candelabrum, has been specially designed for the first ever celebration
of the Jewish festival of lights on Trafalgar Square.

The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Rabbi Gershon Overlander of
Chabad House, Hendon will light the eighth and final candle of the
Menorah accompanied by traditional songs from a choir. Free hot potato
'latkes' and traditional doughnuts will be handed round after the
ceremony and chocolate money or 'gelt' will be given to children.

Chanukah is an eight-day festival and one of the most important in
the Jewish calendar. It teaches a universal message of the power of
light over darkness, freedom over oppression and tolerance over tyranny,
as one candle on the Menorah is lit each day.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone says: 'I look forward to welcoming
people to celebrate Chanukah on Trafalgar Square this year. The giant
Menorah will provide the opportunity for all Londoners to experience
part of the Jewish community's rich culture and tradition and celebrate
the contribution the Jewish community makes to the capital. I would like
to wish everyone a very happy Chanukah.'

Mendy Levy's Menorah in Trafalgar Square

Rabbi Gershon Overlander, Director of Chabad House Hendon says:
'Chanukah Live on Trafalgar Square is going to be a fantastic event. It
will be a great opportunity for the whole family to join in the fun and
celebrations of one of the most inspiring festivals of the Jewish
calendar. Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is celebrated for
eight days by the lighting of the Menorah (candelabra), which
commemorates the miraculous victory - over 2,300 years ago - of a
militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over a mighty and
ruthless enemy bent on destroying Judaism. And here is the historic
lesson here for all mankind: the power of light over darkness and of
freedom over tyranny. Happy Chanukah London!'

The Menorah has been fitted with low carbon ‘LED’ light bulbs. The
Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron as the Mayor's lead on climate change is
driving the initiative to introduce LEDs to London. She said: 'LED
lighting technology offers the maximum CO2 reduction of any light and is
very important in tackling climate change. It is the London light of
the future and we want it to be available to everyone as soon as
possible. This Chanukah Menorah, a symbol of life and light, has been
specially built for Trafalgar Square and I am proud that we are
showcasing this clean green light which will help sustain our
environment'.

Chanukah runs from 4-11 December this year. For more information about the event please visit www.london.gov.uk/mayor/hanukkah. Media partners for the event are Jewish News and Chabad House of Hendon.

Notes to Editors

The Menorah lighting ceremony will start at 5pm and audiences are invited to gather from 4.15pm.

The Mayor works with a number of organisations throughout the year
as part of an ongoing programme of engagement with London's Jewish
community. As well as the Menorah lighting ceremony, this includes:
Simcha on the Square, a celebration of Jewish culture on Trafalgar
Square; publication of the Jewish cultural guide and the Jewish
community in London report; work with the London Jewish Forum and the
Jewish Museum; and the annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at City Hall.

The Menorah has been constructed for Trafalgar Square by Metallico and Ellis & Moore and designed by Mendy Levy.

The Menorah uses low carbon LED light bulbs. LEDs or Light Emitting
Diodes are 90% more efficient than normal lighting and offer the
maximum CO2 reduction over any other light. Currently a proven prototype
they will soon be available to everyone.

The LEDs provided for London’s first Menorah were commissioned by
the London Climate Change Agency (LCCA) from Lemnis lighting. Lemnis
lighting was founded by the great grandsons of the founder of Philips.

The Menorah lighting is the first of a number of projects led by
the LCCA to demonstrate the positive potential of LED's for significant
carbon reductions to tackle climate change. One of the LCCA's roles is
to bring forward carbon-reducing technologies into the market place.

The London Climate Change Agency Ltd (LCCA) is a company wholly
owned and controlled by the London Development Agency (LDA) and led by
the Mayor as chairman of the LCCA Board. In addition to the LDA, the
LCCA is also supported by its founding supporters that include: BP,
Lafarge, Legal & General, Sir Robert McAlpine, Johnson Matthey and
the Corporation of London.

The Menorah was installed on Trafalgar Square on Monday 3 December and the first light was lit on Tuesday 4 December.

Both Jews and non-Jews braved cold weather to celebrate Chanukah in Trafalgar Square in central London.

For
the first time ever, a massive 9.5 metre menorah was erected which was
lit by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Chabad House Hendon director
Rabbi Gershon Overlander.

The eco-friendly menorah designed by Mendy Levy was fitted with low carbon LED light bulbs.

"The
giant menorah will provide the opportunity for all Londoners to
experience part of the Jewish community's rich culture and tradition and
celebrate the contribution the Jewish community makes to the capital,"
said Livingstone. "I would like to wish everyone a very happy Chanukah."

As
well as members of London's Jewish community taking part, non-Jews were
also invited to take part and join in with the celebration which
including giving out of free potato latkes and doughnuts as well as
chocolate coins for all children.

A new Torah dedicated by the Levy family of London, UK, was completed
in one Chabad House but will be used by another in a different country.

A
brand new Torah Scroll recently completed in Beis Lubavitch of London
will be used in a Chabad Center halfway around the world.

The Torah, written in Israel, was sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Mendy Levy of the London suburb of Hendon, in memory of their grandparents Reb Shaul Elisha and Mrs. Malka Baum obm.

At the suggestion of their son, Shaully Levy - the
Baums' great-grandson - the Sefer Torah will be used in the Chabad House
of Mariupol, Ukraine, directed by the Shluchim Rabbi and Mrs. Mendy Cohen.

On Sunday, 11 Tammuz 5752, the last letters were completed at the home of Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Levy, just a stone’s throw away from the famous Beis Lubavitch, one of the world's oldest Chabad institutions.

The last letters were written by Rabbi Nachman Sudak, head Shliach of the UK and Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Hertz, Rov of Anash in NW London, amongst others.

After Hagba by Rabbi Mendy Cohen, the completed Torah was brought into the street by Rabbi Moshe Levy.

The streets outside Beis Lubavitch have not seen such happy scenes for a
while. Joyous dancing, backed up by live music, took the Torah on its
journey to Beis Lubavitch.

Efficiently directed by the gabbai, Reb Yerucham Raskin,
the hundreds assembled received turns to hold the new Torah, as
bochurim from the Yeshiva Gedola and Yeshiva Ketana danced and
celebrated.

It was "Simchas Torah in Tammuz," as the Main Shul in Beis Lubavitch
greeted the new Torah with the traditional Hakofos. The building shook
as the hundreds of men and boys danced to the Rebbe’s Hakofos Niggun.
The chayus of the bochurim was incredible. one non-Lubavitcher who
watched said in awe, "If I stay longer, this scene will turn me into a
Lubavitcher."

As the sun descended into the Chag Hageulah of Yud Beis Tammuz, hundreds
of Anash, Tmimim and family members sat down to a festive meal and
Farbrengen, honoring the new Torah and the special Chasidishe Yom Tov.

Rabbi Dovid Katz, Shliach in West Hampstead, explained
the chiyuv of writing a personal sefer torah, with the Rebbe’s
explanation, while Rabbi Chaim Rapaport explained the importance of a
Mechitza according to the Rebbe’s opinion, stressing the use of one
during any event.

Rabbi Shalom Osdoba pointed out how the Torah was
completed in one Beis Chabad but will ultimately be used in another Beis
Chabad, in a different country.

Rabbi Mordechai Nissim, who travelled with the Torah
from Eretz Yisroel, told over the amazing journey they had when they had
to make an emergency landing in Greece. When they stayed overnight,
they they were told the uncompleted Torah could be used without a
brocho, which they did and enjoyed a kosher breakfast delivered by
Chabad of Athens.

Reb Sheale Baum recounted memories of his grandparents
Reb Shaul Elisha and Mrs. Malka Baum A”H and of how their Torah will be
going to a Chabad House so close to Kobilari, her birthplace. Rabbi
Mendy Cohen of Mariupol, thanked the Levy family for this Torah, which
came to him at a time he needed it most.

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!